Marshalls Creek bypass moving ahead

Thursday

Oct 13, 2005 at 12:01 AMFeb 9, 2006 at 6:10 PM

MICHAEL SADOWSKI

One month into the project and all's well.

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation officials met with government leaders and representatives Wednesday to update the progress of the Marshalls Creek Bypass project and discuss the project's future.

While work on the project so far has been minimal and, for the most part, unnoticeable, there is good news -- everything is on schedule and on budget.

"It's only a month into it," assistant construction manager John F. Krafczyk said. "But I just checked the schedule and the budget today and everything is on course."

That means the bypass would open to traffic by the end of 2008, with construction being fully completed in 2009.

The total project cost -- which many thought would exceed the initial estimates -- stands at $70 million.

The meeting, at the Schoonover Municipal Building in Middle Smithfield Township, was the first of planned quarterly update meetings PennDOT has promised to hold with local officials for bypass progress reports.

Another meeting is tentatively scheduled for January, when PennDOT will be able to divulge how much work has been completed through the construction season.

So far, there hasn't been much work done since the project broke ground in late August. There has been some wetlands mitigation along with some excavation near Fernwood resort at Route 209 and Winona Falls Road.

The intersection is one of three that is schedule to see temporary traffic signals by the end of the year. Signals will also be installed in Smithfield Township at Buttermilk Falls Road and Route 209 and Buttermilk Falls Road and River Road.

There already is a traffic signal at the Fernwood intersection, but PennDOT officials said they are built into areas that will need to be excavated for drainage areas.

The Smithfield Township signals are new, and will be installed this year, even though no work construction work will be done on the intersections until 2007.

Krafczyk said the signals are as much for the project as they are for sheer safety.

"Those intersections have concerned us for a while," he said. "Even though there won't be construction there immediately, it will make those intersections safer."

Smithfield Township roadmaster Stephen Carey agreed the signals will help make the intersections safer.